Welcome to Dalton
by Mockingjay7475
Summary: Dalton spin off. Jeff Sterling transfers to Dalton mid semester to escape from a place where he is tormented because of his sexuality. He soon finds acceptance, new friends, love interests and plenty of Warbler drama to keep him busy. Includes Nick, Thad, Trent, David, Wes, Sebastian and lots of OCs. Blaine and Kurt are mentioned, but are not main characters. Planned eventual Niff.
1. Making New Friends

Jefferson Sterling left the Principal's office with a map of the school in his hands, eager to make his way to his first class. He glared down the piece of paper trying and failing to make sense of it.

The male student knew which way he had to walk from the Principal's office, so he began in that direction, trying to figure the map out as he went. If all else failed, he would just have to ask another student for help.

As he continued along the hallway, he heard a boy, not too far away from him, let out a loud wolf whistle.

Jeff inwardly chuckled as he realised that, as this was an all-boys school, the whistle must have been directed at another boy. This school really was going to be a lot different than Dawson High.

His gaze drifted to the side of the corridor in search of the boy who had the confidence to whistle like that at a fellow student. His eyes locked on to the boy he was searching for, just as a second wolf whistle left the young boy's lips.

Jeff stopped in his tracks as the boy leaning against the wall smirked and raked his eyes slowly up and down Jeff's body. _No way, there's no way that whistle was directed at me._ Jeff thought to himself, unable to drag his stare away from the young male 'checking him out.' _But then why is he looking at me like that?_

The boy in question didn't even look old enough to be in high school, never mind 'eyeing' people in the school hallway. He was pale skinned, like Jeff himself, but stood a lot shorter. He didn't even look like he would come close to five foot. He was very thin and had nice hazel eyes. His facial features in general were very boyish, in fact it was more his face than his height that made him appear too young for high school, along with his light brown hair, that looked even more like Justin Bieber's than his own hair did.

The new Dalton student offered his possible admirer a small smile, but his eyes widened as Justin Bieber Hair, as he was named in Jeff's head, slowly and deliberately licked his lips and raised his eyebrows suggestively.

At this point Jeff began to feel little uncomfortable. While this was an improvement on the type of attention he used to receive at Dawson High, he could do without being teased by someone who surely had to be a freshman. With that thought, he turned away from the small boy.

"Hey, New Guy." Somebody called as Jeff began to walk away. He froze, praying to a God he didn't believe in that this wouldn't be Justin Bieber Hair.

He took in a deep breath and spun round, coming face to face with a dark skinned boy, only an inch or two shorter than himself. This boy also looked to be a freshman, even though he was a fair bit taller than Justin Bieber Hair, he too had really young, boyish features. His dark brown eyes were big and wide, they reminded Jeff somewhat of a puppy's, and he had a cheeky, toothy grin plastered across his round face.

Jeff was unsure of what to say to begin with, until the first thought that ran through his mind fell from his lips. "How did you know I was new?"

The boy's grin widened, if possible "Well, apart from the fact that you just left the Dean's office and you're reading a map of the school, I would certainly remember if I'd seen someone as hot as you around here before today."

"Excuse me." Jeff squeaked, a look of pure shock spread across his cheeks.

"I said…"

"I know what you said." Jeff snapped, wondering what the hell was going on today. "I just…"

The junior cut himself off when Justin Bieber Hair came to a stop next to the grinning boy. The pair smiled at each other before returning their attention to the tall blonde.

"Okay, what's going on here?" Jeff asked, suddenly feeling like he was back in the hallways of Dawson High, being harassed by his fellow students. "I was told there was a zero tolerance policy for bullying at this school. Why are you teasing me?"

"We're not teasing you, Babe." The taller of the boys answered, holding his hands up in surrender. "You asked me how I knew you were new here, and I answered you."

Jeff thought about that for a moment, reasoning that all this boy had done was call him 'hot' and now 'Babe'. It was hardly bullying. But then his gaze fell upon Justin Bieber Hair. "What about him?"

The dark skin boy chuckled a little, before replying "You'll have to excuse my friend. Colin's a total flirt pretty much one hundred percent of the time. But he wasn't teasing you, he just can't help it. I mean come on, how can somebody as gorgeous as you not be used to this kind of attention by now?"

The new student's jaw dropped at that. Nobody had ever called him gorgeous before and although these boys were most likely winding him up and were a couple of years younger than him, it still felt good. A light blush fell across his usually porcelain coloured cheeks.

"Allow us to introduce ourselves properly. I'm Ranger Morgan." The taller male announced, holding out his right hand for Jeff. The blonde hesitated momentarily, before gently shanking Ranger's hand. "And this, sexy young piece of ass stood to my left, is…"

"Colin Rhys." Justin Bieber Hair, or Colin as he should probably start calling him, cut off his friend, also holding out a hand towards Jeff.

"Jeff." He replied quietly, gripping Colin's hand softly. His eyes widened once again, when Colin brought Jeff's hand up to his lips and pressed a light kiss to it. "Sterling." He added, retracting his hand from the small boy's and staring at him in amazement.

"Pleasure to meet you, Jeff Sterling." Ranger beamed at him. "Colin and I are freshmen here at Dalton and, even though we've not been here very long, we pretty much run the place. And just in case you're wondering, which I'm sure you were, yes, we're both single and no, we're not brothers. Even though everyone insists we must be, we're not related at all."

Jeff glanced from Ranger's black face down to Colin's pale white one, with an expression of pure incredulity about what he was hearing.

"I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. We're just best friends" Colin added with a nod. "We're friends with everybody at Dalton. We know everything there is to know about everyone and one thing I can tell you for sure is that we're easily the hottest pieces of action in this joint."

"Easily." Ranger agreed.

Jeff couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Really?"

"Really." Colin confirmed with a playful smile, struggling to stop himself from laughing.

The new male raised his eyebrows at the young boys as if to say 'you can't be serious'.

"Are you saying you wouldn't want to tap this?" Ranger asked with mock hurt in his tone, placing one hand on his hip and jutting it out to the side, pouting his lips in a 'sexy' face.

"Yeah, you've gotta want a piece of this." Colin added biting his lip and flexing his muscles in his arms, if there were even any there, winking at Jeff.

Now realizing that these boys were definitely joking, Jeff laughed out loud, grinning at the pair of freshman.

"Something makes me think that he doesn't believe us." Ranger said to Colin.

"I wonder why." Colin let out a snicker himself.

"Maybe it's because you both look about twelve." Jeff announced, smirking at his new acquaintances.

"Twelve?" Ranger held a hand to his heart, once again pretending to be hurt by Jeff's comment.

"Well, maybe _you_ could pass for thirteen at push, but sorry Colin you definitely look like a twelve year old."

"Well, I'll have you know, most people find my young looks and boyish charm to be cute and adorable." The smaller boy folded his arms across his chest and stuck his tongue out.

"I never said that you weren't cute and adorable, did I?" Jeff retorted. "It was the 'hottest pieces of action in this joint' part that I was having trouble coming to terms with."

"Touché." Ranger winked at the new student. "What about me? Am I cute and adorable?" He asked, pouting again and putting on puppy dog eyes.

"I suppose so." Jeff answered, shaking his head in disbelief at the new friends he had made.

"So, gorgeous," Colin began turning Jeff around, so he was facing in the direction he was walking before he met Colin and Ranger, and linking their arms together as they began walking. "Welcome to Dalton, you've already met the three most important people in the school, The Principal, Ranger and myself."

"Classes don't start for another fifteen minutes, so allow us to show you around, tell you some of the latest gossip and introduce you to some of the other students." Ranger continued, looping his arm through Jeff's other arm. "This is the cafeteria." He gestured to the door at the right of them. "You can eat in there."

"Really?" Jeff questioned sarcastically. "A cafeteria were you are allowed to eat? Who ever heard of such a place?"

Colin chuckled. "I knew I was going to like you."

"Yeah, yeah, very funny." Ranger remarked, nudging Jeff lightly in the ribs.

Ranger and Colin continued to show Jeff around the building for the next ten minutes, showing him where he could find the locker room, the bathrooms, the classrooms (including the room Jeff's first class was in), the library etc. They also showed him how to properly read the map, before leading him out of the building.

"Where are we going?" The new male inquired.

"We're going to show you the most important room on campus." Ranger announced proudly.

"Let me guess." Jeff smiled. "Your room?"

"Got it in one, Honey." Colin answered. "Although we've only got five minutes until classes begin, maybe we should show you later. Wouldn't want to make our sexy newbie late for his first class now would we, Ranger?"

The taller freshman glanced down at his watch, before frowning. "I guess not, okay well you see that first building right in front of us, well that's the Junior and Senior dorms."

"I know, that's where my room is." Jeff replied, with a wink.

"You're dorming?" Jeff nodded. "That's awesome. Anyway, the building to the right of that one is the Freshman and Sophomore dorms. Our room is on the first floor, second door down on the right hand side, room 104. If you ever need anything, you come and let us know."

"Anything at all." Colin threw in, beaming up at his new friend. "Borrow a book, help with homework."

"Gossip on another student." Ranger added

"Gossip on a teacher."

"Place to hang out."

"Shoulder to cry on."

"Ear to nibble on."

"Hand job."

"Blow job."

"Okay!" Jeff cut them off, before they could go any further, blushing at their last few statements. "Thank you, if I ever need anything, you'll be the first to know."

"Perfect." Ranger grinned. "Now would you do us the honour of allowing us to walk you to your History class?" He bowed down low as if Jeff was some sort of king.

Colin followed suit, earning a frustrated snicker for Jeff. "Fine, as long as you two won't be late for your lessons."

"Nah, our French class in on the same floor."

With that said the three of them headed towards their classes. As they were approaching the History room, Jeff heard a small sound of glee leave Colin's lips. He was about to ask what the noise was in aid of, when Ranger answered the unasked question.

"Thaddeus, love of my life. How are you?" The male shouted to a dark haired, tanned boy standing next to the door that, if Jeff remembered correctly, was the room he needed to be in for his first class.

Said boy, glanced up swiftly at the sound of his name, a look of disapproval spreading across his features.

"Hey, you sexy beast." Colin smirked at the boy. "I want to introduce you to someone, Thaddeus this blonde sex god here is Jeff, it's his first day and I believe he's in your History class. Jeff this is Thaddeus, my boyfriend."

"It's nice to…" Jeff began, before he was cut off.

"Firstly, stop calling me Thaddeus, nobody calls me that because I hate it. My name is Thad. Secondly, and most importantly, I am NOT your boyfriend. I never have been, and I most certainly never will be. Finally, it's a pleasure to meet you Jeff, I apologise sincerely for anything you've had to endure, while being accompanied by these two hooligans."

Ranger jumped in before Jeff could respond "Hooligans? Okay, we'll leave you two hotties alone then."

"That's right, we know when we're not wanted." Colin announced starting to walk away before turning around. "But remember if either of you ever wanna tap this, you just let me know, okay."

"Same goes for me." Ranger added, smirking at the blushing pair of juniors. "Oh, and if you ever decide to do each other, be sure to let me know."

"Oh hell yes, that is one show that I would definitely pay good money to see." Colin threw in before heading away from the gob-smacked pair.

"I am so sorry about those two." Thad spoke first after a short pause spent in awkward silence. "I mean of all the people you could run into on your first day…"

"It's honestly fine. Colin and Ranger are…"

"Irritating, inappropriate, irksome." Thad supplied.

"Interesting." Jeff finished. "They make me laugh."

"Well I find them terribly inappropriate. However, let's not let me get into that, I could complain about those two for hours. I'd like to properly welcome you to Dalton, I'm Thad Harwood, if you need help with anything please don't hesitate to ask. Just please, don't call me Thaddeus."

Jeff let out a small chuckle at that last comment. "It's nice to meet you Thad, and don't worry, I won't call you that." He hesitated slightly before continuing. "In fact, I'll let you in on something, if you promise never to tell Colin and Ranger."

"You have my word."

"Jeff is short for Jefferson." The blonde confessed. "Although, as far as everyone else is concerned, it's just Jeff."

"Ah, well your secret is safe with me." Thad assured, before gesturing Jeff into the classroom.


	2. Making New Friends - Part 2

Jeff's first few classes of the day went by really quickly. Although these lessons were far more challenging than any of the lessons he had ever had at Dawson High, he loved every minute of it. He had always aced all of his classes at his old school and even though that would most likely not be the case at this new school, Jeff was fairly confident that he was smart enough to catch up relatively quickly and at least maintain an average grade in each of his classes.

Yes, that's right, Jefferson Sterling had his positive head on, as he headed towards the cafeteria, where he had agreed to meet up with Thad for lunch during their shared History class. Jeff was going to be happy here, he just knew it.

Once inside the cafeteria, his eyes scanned the crowded room in search of his new friend. It didn't take too long for Jeff to spot Thad sat at a table near the far corner of the room, with a boy that Jeff didn't recognise.

"Hey." Jeff greeted shyly, as he came to a halt in front of pair's table.

"Jeff, hi." Thad stood and motioned to a chair at the table. "Sit down, I want to introduce you to my roommate, Trent." He gestured to the round faced male, across the table. "Trent this is Jeff, the new transfer student I was just telling you about."

"It's nice to meet you, Jeff." The boy extended a hand, which Jeff shook.

"So did you bring lunch with you or are you buying your lunch here?" Trent asked. "I can go up to the counter with you if you want me to."

"Thanks, but that's okay, I have food." Jeff took a plastic box out of his bag and pulled off the lid, revealing a medium sized Tupperware box with a small ice pack down the side to keep his lunch cold.

The three boys began eating and fell into light conversation, mostly centring on Jeff and how he felt he was settling in. Trent couldn't help but laugh as Jeff informed him about how his morning began, meeting Colin and Ranger. Thad did not find the story too amusing and made a mental note to have words with those two, even though Jeff had assured him, it was fine.

At some point the discussion turned to the Warblers, the school's acapella group, and plans for sectionals.

"Can you sing, Jeff?" Trent inquired, smiling at the new boy sat opposite him.

"Yes." Jeff replied with a grin. "I love to sing. I was in the glee club at my old school."

"Oh, that's awesome." Trent beamed. "You have to audition for the Warblers."

"That would actually be great." Jeff beamed. "Should I sing anything in particular?"

"Anything you want." Thad responded. "I would, however, recommend sing without any back up music if I were you."

"Yeah, that's always a good idea." Trent agreed. "I wouldn't worry too much, you'll get in." Trent told him.

"You've never even heard me sing"

"You'll get in." He repeated, grinning over at him. "Won't he Thad?"

"As long as you have some singing abilities then yes, there's no reason we won't let you in, but if you want solos then you have to be really good."

"Who's we?" Jeff probed.

"The council." Thad replied, as if this was all the explanation that was needed.

Trent continued. "We don't have a teacher to direct us, like a lot of glee clubs. Here we vote for three Junior or Senior members to make up the council. The council make all the important decisions in the group, like who gets in, who gets solos and what songs are chosen. Everybody is allowed to voice their opinion of course, but ultimately, it's the council's decision that matters. But you don't have to worry, because you've already met a very important member of the council, by befriending Thad."

"Are Colin and Ranger Warblers?"

At this Trent burst into laughter.

"No, of course not." Thad chuckled. "They're not Warblers."

"They auditioned at the start of the year though." Trent shook his head, smirking at the memory. "Yeah, they performed the most pornographic version of Katy Perry's 'Peacock' you could ever imagine."

"It was disgraceful." Thad threw in, frowning.

Trent laughed. "They weren't seriously auditioning, they just did it for a laugh."

Jeff actually wished he could have been here to see that. Although he'd only spent twenty minutes with the boys in question, he could quite easily imagine that going down.

The group were dragged away from their conversation as a loud obnoxious sounding boy, sitting a couple of tables away, starting chanting a crude little rhyme obviously about some girl. He then continued to go into great detail about what he had done with this girl in the bedroom, at the top of his voice, earning laughter from the large group of boys surrounding that particular table. He then proceeded to inform his friends (or more accurately the entire cafeteria, with how loud he was talking) about how he had dumped the girl straight after, ending this delightful little story with 'another notch in the bedpost'.

Jeff scrunched his nose up in disgust as he dragged his gaze away from the despicable teenager. "Well he seems like a…" He struggled to think of the best word.

"Asshole?" Trent supplied.

"Yes."

Trent nodded. "That's Scott Nixon. He's my brother."

"Oh, Trent I'm sorry. I…"

"Don't worry about it." The Warbler assured his new friend. "He is an asshole. He's been an asshole for as long as I can remember."

"His friends are just as bad." Thad added. "Always boasting about the girls they've led on, slept with and dumped, it's like a competition for them."

"All of them?" Jeff glanced over at the group in shock, trying to count how many people were gathered around the table. "That's awful."

"Well no, they're not all like that." Trent corrected. "Most of those boys aren't even Scottie's friends, he probably couldn't pick them out of a line up. They just follow the popular boys around because they want to be like them."

"Why?" Jeff's face scrunched up once more.

"Because they're 'cool'" Trent replied, rolling his eyes. "Because they're good at sports, drive nice cars and break girl's hearts. Haven't you heard? Everybody wants to be like Scottie Nixon, Kane Riley, Chris Wilkinson, Alex Ryder, Hayden Fletcher and Nick Duval."

"At least Scott, Kane, Alexander and Christopher just keep to sports and girls." Thad voiced, glaring over at the 'cool table' "Hayden and Nicholas have decided to grace the Warblers with their 'talent'."

"Come on, Thad, you have to be honest." Trent argued. "While I agree that neither of them are very nice people, they're both talented singers and they've never caused any issues during Warbler practice."

"If they'd have auditioned this year, now I have a seat on the council, the never would have been accepted."

"That's not fair." Trent responded. "They earned their spot in the Warblers, I remember both their auditions last year. Hayden's was good, Nick's was outstanding."

"Nicholas' voice is average."

"That's not true." Trent stated simply. "Is that why he never gets solos Thaddeus, because he's one of them?"

"Just what are you accusing the council of?" Thad yelled angrily at his roommate. "He never gets solos for the same reason you don't, he's not good enough!"

Trent glared at Thad across the table as his face reddened with anger. Before he could do something he'd regret, he jumped up from the table stormed out of the cafeteria, leaving his half eaten lunch behind. The outburst between Thad and Trent hadn't gone unnoticed by many, not even by a group of loud boys on a nearby table.

"Sorry to intrude, but that seemed a little harsh." Jeff voiced, once Trent was out of sight.

"He had no right to insinuate that we base our decisions on anything other than talent." Thad defended.

Jeff decided to just keep quiet, it wasn't his place to argue for or against what had just happened.

"Come on." Thad rose up and gestured for Jeff to do the same. "It's almost time for our next classes. What do you have?"

The blonde boy rustled around for his schedule, before announcing that French was his next class.

"I'll point you in the right direction." Thad offered, and with that said both boys exited the cafeteria and headed off towards their lessons.


	3. French Class and Warbler Audition

Jeff Sterling was in his element in his French class. This was one class that he wasn't even slightly worried about. Jeff was more than confident that he would ace this class as he was already fairly fluent in French. The Teacher, Monsieur Harris, seemed impressed with him and if the look he was receiving from Trent was anything to go by, he was amazed with him also.

Monsieur Harris handed out a work booklet to each student and asked that they complete it in silence, using their textbooks if they needed them, while he settled down to mark some old test papers.

Jeff had no problem zooming through the work, without the use of the textbook provided. In fact he was almost finished when a huff of annoyance came from the boy sat on the desk to his left. He glanced in the direction of the noise, just as the brunette male slammed his book shut and met Jeff's gaze.

"Hey, it's Jeff right?" The unknown boy questioned in a whisper. Jeff nodded, yes. "What's the answer to question six? I can't find it in this useless book."

The blonde was unsure of how to answer his fellow student. He wanted to be friendly, but not at the risk of getting into trouble with the teacher. "S-shouldn't you ask Mr Harris?"

The boy let out a sigh at that. "Just tell me the damn answer." He huffed out, before rolling his eyes and adding. "Please."

"I…"

"Problem Mr Sterling?" The teacher interrupted. "Mr Duval?"

 _Duval. Why did that name sound familiar?_ Jeff thought to himself, before searching his brain for an answer to Mr Harris's question. Luckily, the boy to his left beat him to it.

"No, no problem." Mr Duval spoke calmly. "Just making sure the new kid's okay. Wouldn't want him falling behind."

Jeff shot a glare in his direction at that statement.

"Well, while I'm sure our new student appreciates your efforts, from what I've seen today I think he is quite capable of keeping up in this class." Mr Harris informed the boy with a stiff look. "Now if you would please return your attention to your own work, Nicholas."

 _Nicholas? Nicholas Duval. As in, Nick Duval, the boy Thad and Trent were arguing about?_ Jeff appraised the male quickly. Overall, he wasn't an unattractive boy. He had nice hazel eyes and messy brown hair, a little shorter than Jeff's. His nose was a little on the large side, but it suited his features and the cheeky grin he was flashing Mr Harris certainly added to the boy's charisma.

Jeff was dragged away from his assessment by the sound of his teacher's voice. "Do you require any assistance Mr Sterling?"

"No sir, sorry sir." With that said he returned to his work.

Not too long after that, Jeff had finished his work book. His initial thought was to let Mr Harris know, but the boy didn't want to seem like a show-off. The last thing he wanted to do was create enemies at this school. With that thought in mind, he glanced around the classroom to see if any of his fellow students had finished.

His gaze locked on to a pair of bright blue eyes at the back of the room. The owner of said eyes offered Jeff a kind smile, which Jeff returned shyly. The blonde's face blushed as the unknown male continued to stare at him, smile still intact.

The boy's lips turned into a grin as he witnessed Jeff blush, before he mouthed a greeting to him. 'Hi'.

'Hi.' Jeff mouthed back, finding it impossible to turn away from this blue eyed boy. Jeff tried to decide what colour his hair was, settling on a very light shade of brown, but not quite light enough to be considered blonde.

The light haired boy mouthed another message to Jeff, but he couldn't understand him the first time, so the boy tried again, pointing at Jeff this time. 'You finished the work?'

Jeff nodded.

'Me too.'

"What is it now, Mr Sterling?" Mr Harris called across the room.

Jeff spun around to face the annoyed teacher, hoping he wasn't going to get into any serious trouble on the first day. "I-I…"

"My fault, sir." The unknown teen at the back of the room jumped in to save him. "I was just about to suggest to Jeff, that as we've both completed the work you assigned, we could practice some oral together?"

The accidental innuendo in that statement didn't go unnoticed by the majority of the class, who all began to snicker quietly.

"No, th-that's not what I meant!" The boy shouted out, realizing the implications behind what he had just said. "I mean… I-I…"

"I know what you meant, Mr Crossley." Mr Harris stood up and attempted to save the boy from any further embarrassment. "However if yourself and Mr Sterling have finished, then you should have informed me." The teacher picked up some sheets from his desk, before heading in Jeff's direction. "You can complete these more advanced worksheets while I mark your booklets."

The rest of the class went by without any hiccups after that. With the small exception of Nick throwing a note his way asking once again for the answer to question six, which Jeff caved to and scribbled down the answer.

At the end of that class, Trent had practically begged Jeff to tutor him in French, a request that Jeff happily agreed to.

The next couple of days went by quickly for Jeff. He was receiving lots of homework and he'd be lying if he said it wasn't a little overwhelming, but he was managing.

He continued to eat his lunch with Trent and Thad during the lunch hours. They were good company and made pleasant conversation. Although things had been slightly awkward between the pair, since their argument. Thad had, however, managed to arrange with David Thompson, another council member, an audition for Jeff on Thursday, during rehearsals and before Jeff new it, it was Thursday afternoon and he was making his way to said audition.

All of the Warblers were present at the rehearsal and the council got them to settle down, before calling Jeff up to perform to them all.

He glanced around the room a little nervously before taking in a deep breath and beginning his chosen song, without backing music, as Thad and Trent had suggested.

 **Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep**

 **Dreaming about the things that we could be**

 **But, baby I've been, I've been praying hard**

 **Said no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars**

 **Yeah, we'll be counting stars**

Jeff couldn't help but well up with pride as he took in the expressions on the other Warbler's faces as he continued on with the song.

He took a small bow when the song ended and the room burst into applause.

As usual Warbler tradition, Jeff was asked to wait outside while the council made their decision in the presence of the other members.

Thad closed the door behind Jeff after the blonde exited the room, before returning to his place at the council table. "Well, is there even any need to discuss this?" He questioned with a grin.

"I don't think so." Wes seemed to agree. "I don't believe Jeff is what we're looking for and he won't fit in as a member of the Warblers. I think we should decline his request to join our group."

"What?" Thad and David yelped in unison.

Wes's comments caused a stir in the rest of the Warblers, as the majority of them (including Thad and Trent) began speaking all at once, throwing in their own opinions of Jeff's performance, in his defence.

"I will have order!" Wes shouted, banging his gavel down hard on the table, silencing the room.

After that, David remained quiet while Wes and Thad argued for the best part of fifteen minutes as to whether or not Jeff should be allowed to join the Warblers.

The room fell quiet for a short while, before the Asian boy spoke again. "Look, I am not denying that Jeff is somewhat talented, but he is far from the best and while his voice may be considered pleasant to some, he will not fit in with our harmonies."

"Well that's bullshit." Nick spoke out, surprising everyone in the room, including himself. It appeared that he hadn't meant to say that out loud. However, as all eyes fell on him, he felt the urge to continue. He stood and continued, angrily "I think it's fair to say that blondie is more than _somewhat talented._ That was one of the best solo performances this room has ever seen. He sang the song perfectly and since when has it been Warbler tradition to tell someone they're not good enough, just because their voice is a little different?"

"You are out of line Nicholas Duval!" Wes smacked his gavel down on the table again.

"No, I'm not." Nick replayed, once again shocking the room. While Nick had auditioned for solos in the past, he was not one of the people that usually contributed many opinions during discussions like this. "That was a good audition. Blondie's a better singer than you." Nick pointed to Thad. "He's a better singer than you." His finger shifted to point at David this time. "And he is most definitely a better singer than you." He added pointing to Wes. "I mean, why are you even here? Your voice is average at the best of times and the only thing you really do is boss everybody around. Is this some sort of dominant control kink that your girlfriend won't let you try out, so you get off on bossing us around? Oh wait, that's right, she dumped you, didn't she?"

The room went silent, with the exception of a few gasps. On top of the Warblers not being used to hearing Nick speak his mind during rehearsals, they also weren't used to Wes being rendered speechless. The Asian council member shot daggers at the calm, smirking brunette lounging on the couch in front of him.

Trent finally broke the silence. "Can I suggest, that as the council has been unable to make a unanimous decision, that as an entire group, we take a vote?"

"I believe that this would be the most appropriate action to take." David agreed. "All those in favour of Jeff joining the Warblers, raise your hand now."

Everybody in the room raised their hands at once, except for Wes.

"All those opposed?" David questioned, causing Wes to lift his hand.

Wes glanced around the place frantically, as if searching for another option, before letting out a long sigh and giving up. "Fine, Jeff Sterling is officially a member of the Dalton Academy Warblers."


	4. Wes and David's Double Date

Jeff Sterling waited anxiously outside the Warblers' choir room, pacing back and forth slightly. He was more than confident that his performance had gone well, but he couldn't understand why it was taking so long for the council to come to a decision. From what Trent and Thad had told him, these things never usually took more than a couple of minutes and as long as he had fairly good singing abilities he would get in, no problem.

But he'd already been waiting outside for at least twenty minutes. What was the issue? He'd made it through the entire song without any faults and had hit all the notes perfectly. The boy just didn't understand.

He stopped pacing and instead leaned back against the wall. The boy really wished he could be a fly on the wall in the choir room right now. He desperately wanted to know what going on.

Eventually, after what felt like hours, the door opened and Thad appeared in the doorway, not looking particularly happy. Jeff's face dropped at the thought that he was about to receive bad news from the council member.

Thad noticed the change in his new friend's face and instantly offered the boy a small smile. "Don't worry Jeff. You're in."

"Oh, thank god." Jeff's hands flew up to his chest as he let out a breath he didn't even realise he'd been holding. "I thought… well, I don't know what I thought. You said it wouldn't take very long."

"I know." Thad spoke apologetically. "I am really sorry that we kept you waiting for so long, Jeff. But not to worry, it's all sorted out now." He gripped his arm gently and began to lead him back into the choir room.

Jeff really wanted to ask what had taken them so long, but thought it best not to, deciding it was most likely a better option to ask him or Trent about it later.

"Jeff Sterling." Thad announced as they stepped into the room fully. "Welcome to The Warblers."

* * *

By the time Jeff had done his audition and then waited for the decision to be made, practice was almost finished.

At the end of the session, David waited until everybody was leaving before pulling Wes to one side and questioning him on what was going through his mind with regards to Jeff.

"I just have a bad feeling about him, that's all." The Asian male defended.

"What's that supposed to mean?" David enquired. "Last year, we both had bad feelings about letting Nick and Hayden in, but ultimately we decided our judgement had to come down to talent and talent alone. Jeff's audition was faultless. I don't understand the problem."

"Exactly. You don't understand. You don't know what I know." Wes spat.

"Then explain it to me, man. I'm supposed to be your best friend, if something's going on, then tell me."

"You're right." Wes admitted. "I'm sorry. God, I don't even know why I'm keeping this from you. Okay, I was in the Lima Bean with Blaine the other week, when you went bowling with Carly. I was approached by a guy called Gary, from Dawson High."

"Where Jeff transferred from?"

"Exactly." The taller male confirmed. "Gary was a member of the glee club along with Jeff and he said he wanted to warn me about what was happening. He felt like he was betraying his friends, but he wanted to do the right thing."

"Which is?"

"He wanted to warn us about their glee club tactics. They really want to win nationals this year, after coming second to vocal adrenaline for the third year in a row, so they decided to send spies into all the schools that they considered to be a threat. Us being one of those schools."

"Don't you think that's a little farfetched, I mean, admission here is not exactly low. Would Jeff's family really pay for him to spy on a show choir that didn't even make it to nationals last year?"

"From what Gary was saying, I believe the school is funding it."

"What?" David remarked, shocked by what he'd just heard.

"He seemed sincere." Wes added. "And he appeared to be very annoyed with himself for telling us his teammate's plans, but like I said, he wanted to do the right thing. He said just to make sure that Jeff didn't get into the glee club, make him feel unwelcome and he'd transfer back."

"Well, don't you think it might have been more useful to have this information, before Jeff's audition, before Thad and myself argued in favour of Jeff joining?"

"I know, Dave." Wes looked down to the floor. "I messed up, I'm sorry. I just wasn't sure I believed it myself at first. But I knew it had to be true, when Jeff started singing. Why would anybody that good, transfer from the second best glee club midterm?"

"I may have to ask him that, next time I see him." David concluded, before Wes and himself headed back to their dorm.

Once there, Wes started on his homework, while David lounged on his bed texting his girlfriend.

After a while David tossed his cell to the side and grinned over at his friend. "Wes, my man, how do you fancy going on a double date?"

"No."

"Come on, man." David pleaded with his best friend. "You haven't even looked at a girl since your break up with Chloe."

"I've had other things on my mind, Dave" The Asian boy responded. "I don't need you setting me up on blind dates."

"Firstly, its blind date not dates. Just one Wes, no plural needed. And it wasn't even my idea, it was Carly's. I asked Carly to come out this evening for a coffee and she had already made plans to spend the evening with her friend, Louise. That's when she suggested that I bring you along. You don't even have to think about it as a date, man. It's just two pairs of friends meeting up together for coffee. What's the worst that could happen? You're meeting a girl, Wes, not getting married." David grinned over at his roommate, before continuing to search his closet for his favourite sweater. "Look don't even do it because you want to, do it because I am your best friend and I would really like to spend some time with my girlfriend tonight, and the only way I get to do that is if I bring you along."

"Way to make me feel used." Wes snickered softly.

"You know what I mean, man, please."

"Fine." The male gave up. "I'll come for one stupid cup of coffee."

"I love you man."

"Yeah, whatever."

So that was how Wesley Montgomery found himself in the passenger seat of David's car, headed towards the Lima Bean, a regular hang out for the kids from Dalton, as well as a few other surrounding schools.

They entered the building and the boys immediately spotted Carly, sat at a table just to the left of the doorway, with a black haired, pale faced girl sat beside her.

"Hey babe." The beautiful brunette greeted, standing up and pressing a quick kiss to David's lips, before turning to Wes and pulling him in for a hug, which he returned awkwardly. "Hi Wes, it's good to see you again."

"You too, Carly." The Asian boy smiled, moving away from the hug.

Carly turned to her friend. "Louise, you've met David a few times before haven't you?" The black haired girl nodded. "And this is his best friend, Wesley Montgomery."

"Just, Wes." He corrected, before offering Louise a small smile. "Hello, it's nice to meet you."

"Hi." The girl replied quietly, her cheeks reddening ever so slightly.

"Louise is a bit shy." Carly announced and Louise's eyes lowered to stare at the table, as if to confirm her friend's assessment. "So what can I get you guys to drink?"

"Shouldn't we be buying the drinks?" Wes questioned. "We are the gentlemen after all."

"Gentlemen?" The brunette female snickered. "Maybe you could pass for a gentleman, but there's not a chance in hell for your roommate."

"Hey." David protested as his friend laughed.

"Seriously though, Dave." Wes spoke. "We should get these ladies a drink."

"Oh, sit down Wes." Carly ordered, chuckling, before David had chance to respond. "Welcome to the twenty first century, where it is perfectly acceptable for a girl to buy a coffee for a guy."

"Ok." He held his hands up in surrender, taking a seat. "If you really insist, I'll take a Salted Caramel Mocha, please."

"Dave?"

"You know my order by now, Babe."

"Louise, you want your usual?"

The girl nodded, nervously glancing across the table at a, now seated, Wes. "Shall I come with you?"

"No that's okay." Carly beamed at her friend. "Dave will help me."

"I will?" His girlfriend glared playfully at him. "I will." He confirmed

"Perfect." The teenage girl grinned. "Louise, you can get to know Wes while we order."

With that said, the couple head toward the counter, waiting behind a couple of school girls in front of them in the queue.

Wes's gaze followed them as they walked away. He continued to watch as Carly pulled David in for a tender kiss, and his eyes trailed downward, stopping to stare at where David's hand had come to rest cheekily on his girlfriend's ass.

He shook his head and turned his attention towards the girl sat in front of him, who had her stare glued to a spot on the table in front of her.

"So, Louise." He began. "You go to Crawford County Day, with Carly?"

Her eyes flickered up to meet his and she nodded.

"That's good." He smiled. "It's a good school."

Again Louise nodded in response.

"So… how did you become friends with Carly?" He was running out of ideas for conversation starters. "Did you meet at Crawford?"

"No." She answered timidly. "We've been friends for years."

"That's nice. Same as David and myself." There was a long pause were nobody spoke, before Wes tried to get the conversation going again. "Do you board at Crawford?"

She nodded.

"Is Carly your roommate?"

Another nod.

"Awesome."

Wes gave up on the conversation at this point and soon after Louise's gaze returned to the table. It seemed like a great deal of time passed before David and Carly returned with their drinks, but in reality it probably wasn't that long.

The drinks were handed out and Carly reclaimed her seat beside Louise, as David took the free seat next to his best friend.

The foursome sipped away at their beverages as they made conversation, mainly between Carly, David and Wes, with Louise contributing the occasional nod or 'yes' or 'no', whenever a question was flung her way.

David was the first to finish his coffee. As he lowered the empty cup to the table, he glanced around at the three teenagers he was sat with. "This is nice, the four of us hanging out together. We should do it more often."

"We definitely should." Carly added, beaming. "We should have a movie night at one of our dorms sometime."

"That's a great idea." David agreed, grinning over at Wes, looking for approval.

Wes smirked at his friend before speaking. "I guess I'd be cool with that. As long as we can make it a horror movie marathon."

"Oh that sounds awesome!" The brunette female squealed. "I love horror movies so, so much."

"Really?" Wes continued to smirk over at his roommate.

"I know David's useless with horrors." Carly chuckled at her boyfriend's expense. "I keep begging him to watch 'Rings', with me, but he claims he's still having nightmares about the first two."

"It's the TV scene." David defended. "It freaked me out, okay."

"Aw come on, man up and take your girlfriend to see the scary movie." The Asian boy teased his friend.

"Can't you go with somebody else? Louise?" David called, causing the shy girl to glance up from the table swiftly. "Would you do me a huge favour and take the love of my life to the movies to see 'Rings'? Please?"

"Oh, I – I…" Louise began.

"Louise, is even worse than you, David." Carly intervened and answered for her friend. "I sure know how to pick 'em, don't I? My boyfriend and best friend."

Wes laughed. "Yeah I know what you mean. I love horror movies but my ex would never watch any and neither will Dave, so I haven't watch a good horror movie in for ever."

"Tell me about it." Carly giggled. "How about this for an idea, Dave." She fluttered her eyelids at her boyfriend. "How about I borrow your best friend to go and see 'Rings' and you can borrow my best friend to go and see one of those silly, soppy romance movies you love to cry over."

"I do not cry watching romance movies." David protested.

Wes laughed loudly. "Yes you do, man."

"How can you even try to deny it in front of us?" Carly questioned, incredulously.

Wes and Carly continued to chuckle at David's expense, while David sulked, playfully pouting across the table at his girlfriend.

"Why did I ever bring you with me today?" David asked, turning to his best friend. "Just so you could team up with my girlfriend and bully me."

"We only do it because we love you." The female he loved informed him.

"That's right, man." Wes confirmed. "The more we tease you, the more it shows we love you. You should have figured that out by now."

"Well in that case, with the amount of abuse I put up with from you two, I feel like the most loved man on the planet."

"You're a lucky guy." Carly told him.

Wes glanced over at Carly and his expression suddenly became less playful, as he added. "Yeah, very lucky."

Carly and David snickered, not noticing the seriousness behind Wes's comment. Louise, however, finally lifted her gaze up and narrowed her eyes at the boy opposite her.

Wes gulped noticeably, before he became the one unable to lift his stare from the table.

When all four teenagers had finished their drinks, they stood up ready to leave. Carly moved around to the boy's side of the table, pulling Wes into a hug first, before turning to David and giving him a tender kiss. Wes said a quick goodbye to Louise, who offered a half smile and a 'bye', before all four of them headed out of the shop.


End file.
